Authorities have identified a 4-year-old girl who died when the car she was in was struck by the vehicle of a suspected drunken driver in Lake Los Angeles.
K’Marie Lawson died at the scene of the crash that occurred about 8:45 p.m. Oct. 8 at Avenue O and 165th Street East, according to the coroner’s office and the California Highway Patrol.
A 2006 Nissan Xterra was eastbound on Avenue O when its driver “allowed his vehicle to drift into the westbound lane of Avenue O,’’ where it struck a Nissan Altima occupied by the fatally injured girl and four other people, said CHP Officer S. Taggert.
A 3-year-old boy, a 1-year-old girl, a 26-year-old woman and a 27-year-old man—all from Palmdale—were in the Altima and were taken to a hospital with moderate injuries.
The driver of the Xterra, identified as 61-year-old George Kokoteev of Palmdale, was arrested and taken to a hospital with major injuries, Taggert said.
Alcohol was suspected to be a factor in the crash, he said.
Witnesses to the crash were asked to call Officer Taggert at the Antelope Valley CHP Office at (661) 948-8541.
